Archive By Author - Dale Hogg

When most of us are safe and warm inside, there are a handful of folks whose job it is to head into the jaws of winter weather. These city, county and state snow removal crews face long, bitter cold hours doing the nerve-grinding job of making streets and highways safe for motorists.

Editor's note: Below is a recap of some of the activities of Barton County departments presented to the County Commission Wednesday. It is the second of two stories highlighting the year-in-review. This is the second of two stories.

Editor's note: Below is a recap of some of the activities of Barton County departments presented to the County Commission Wednesday. It is the first of two stories highlighting the year-in-review. The second story will appear in Sunday's Tribune.

Although officially on vacation, United Way of Central Kansas Executive Director Julie Bugner Smith sat in her office Thursday morning catching up on the pile of work created by the holidays. However, even though the season has caused much of the door-to-door fundraising to grind to a halt, UWCK remains on track to meet its $235,000 goal, due in large part to the increased use of social media.

We here at the Tribune have observed what has been dubbed "Christmas Spirit Week" this week. There have been days dedicated to wearing Christmas attire, Christmas bling and Christmas colors. Of course, all week, the table in the break room has loaded with Christmas cookies and assorted Christmas snacks.

At a retail roundtable meeting Dec. 10, Great Bend Community Coordinator Christina Hayes, other officials and local business leaders decided to revamp the downtown promotional program known as Thank You Thursdays.

With only two weeks before the City of Great Bend takes over management of the contentious city-owned Convention Center, the City Council Monday night learned that the cost of razing it and starting from scratch would cost about the same as remodeling the existing facility.

Beginning Feb. 23 and running through March 6, the Great Bend Police Department will join other Kansas Law Enforcement agencies to stop what has been an epidemic for the past several years – teens not using seatbelts.

Overly dark vehicle windows are a threat to the safety of the public and to the police officers patrolling the streets, Great Bend Police Sgt. Jay Bachar told the Great Bend City Council Monday night. So, the City of Great Bend Police Department is undertaking a strong effort to monitor window tinting.

As of this weekend, there were two laboratory-confirmed cases of whooping cough in Great Bend, Barton County Health Director Shelly Schneider said Monday morning. One of the cases is in a school-age child and the other in a younger child, both of whom had been vaccinated.

The county employees honored for longevity by the Barton County Commission represented 270 collective years of service to the county. Recognized were folks who have had continuous employment for five, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 35 years.